PED's you think the NBA has a problem there?

Heck, they should just make PEDs mandatory. Anything less is cheating the fans out of the best product possible.

 

[video]http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23764633[/video]

 

On a more serious note....

The problem with the pro wrasslin' analogy, is that most of the guys who died young, also had issues with pain-killer addiction, recreational drugs, and /or multiple concussion syndrome. There are too many other factors involved to say they died from using PEDs.

 

Yeah it is naive to assume they aren't used in the NBA. If I was in the NBA and taking something might make me better and make more money, I'm not even sure I would have to think long and hard about it.

 

People who claim Millions are at stake if they get caught have it backwards. If your athleticism naturally is a 7 and you can boost it to 11 that puts you from a 700k guy to a 7 million guy or more potentially. Easy math, ten years at 700k vs two years @ 7 Mil before you get caught...and that's assuming the NBA is trying to catch people. Other then the occasional D. Miles-esque wrist slap it never happens.

 

Well I didn't mean to say PEDs was the main cause of their deaths, but it certainly contributed.

 

Professional baseball players don't participate in the Olympics, which has extremely strict testing standards. NBA players do. I just think Basketball is a more athletic sport, and you rely on being a genetic freak more than in other major sports (height, explosion, the roster is smaller so it weeds out less athletic players). When Howard was in High School he was a skinny dude but still the most athletic kid in his draft class. It is not surprising he hit the genetic lottery and continued to develop. Same with some other players, so unless you have some detailed investigation you want to present, I can not just use the eyeball test.

Baseball had more problems because their stars tested positive. It isn't just conjecture like what you're doing with Howard. There is hardcore evidence, Mitchell report, etc.

 

The NBA being a far more star driven sport then MLB has a critical self-interest to prevent a scandal from breaking far, far more then MLB or the NFL. Not that NFL and MLB aren't star driven it's a matter of degree. Stern's entire business model is built on Howard and the Magic, Kobe and the Lakers etc. etc.

I'm saying that the NBA most likely not only knows about PED's in the league, but colludes with players/teams to keep a scandal from breaking. I think Stern is one of the most corrupt commissioners in sports....ever. Yes, I'm speculating, but people speculated before Canseco came out as well about whether it was just the juiced ball or if there was something else going on. There are ways of using PED's in advance of testing so your system is clean, especially when you have a 4 year lead in before your tests.

I don't have proof, but I believe in time I will be vindicated.

 

I feel safe making the assumption that Lamarcus does not use PEDs.

 

If you knew for a fact that Greg Oden used PEDs during his rookie "season", would it lessen your opinion of him?

 

Not unless it directly lead to his MF in some way. This whole thread was to see who still suspends disbelief. I for one think it's very widespread and Oden seems a likely guy on our team to have joined what I imagine is the vast majority of NBA players. As far as it being illegal so is pot and again the vast majority and all that. Who cares.